I'm like, we're playing basketball here, and it's not even about basketball at certain points. Especially when the attention is bulls-- attention, fluff.

"Which, I think, he deserves way more credit for switching his game".

In addition to the fact that even the best have to become role players in James's shadow, Durant said the stardom that surrounds LeBron is "toxic". A lot of young players are developing that skill. So he definitely didn't say anything that implies he couldn't adapt his game to fit with LeBron.

LeBron couldn't attract star free agents during his first stint with Cleveland, which played a part in him leaving for Miami. "Like, young players that are still developing, it's always going to be hard because he demands the ball so much, he demands control of the offense and he creates for everybody".

"The question that nobody knows - and we know father time is coming - is will it catch up to him earlier if he plays 34 minutes instead of 38?"

"They don't know and they're trying to balance what they don't know with what they need right now".

"There's still so much more basketball to play", Bosh said. But the league might change.

More broadly, they've provided a glimpse - foggy and fleeting and full of small sample size as it might be - as to what the team might look like this spring and into the playoffs, if everything goes according to plan. In addition, James has gone to the NBA Finals for eight consecutive years, meaning he's played the most minutes and games of any NBA player for a majority of the last decade.

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, a teammate of Leonard's this season, described it as the "LeBron Effect". He's earned that, but he's human.

"Guys similar to (LeBron), why would they want to play with somebody who does all the same things?"

"He's very unselfish. He's won multiple championships with other superstars", Walton said. "He's a victor and he's an incredible player and he's unselfish", he said.